Railway-switch operator.



W. A. ROBINSON.

RAILWAY SWITCH OPERATOR.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-25. I916. Patented June 5, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

//v mm 11( /7. azzz$0m ATTOREYS m: mums PETERS coy. Funny-ma. wAsnmcmm n. c.

W. A. ROBINSON.

RAILWAY SWITCH OPERATOR.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.25. 1915.

LQQQJQL 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES IIVVE/V 70/? A TTO/M/EYS ms rzrzns co" puma-Lima. wnsnnvmvm n. c.

Patented June 5, 1917.

WILLIAM A. ROBINSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

RAILWAY-SWITCH OPERATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 5, 1917.

Application filed August 25, 1916. Serial No. 116,789.

I '0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, l/VILLIAM ALFRED ROB- INsoN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Switch Operators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to means for operating switches in railway tracks, and the main object thereof is to provide means under the control of an engineer or motorman for accomplishing this result at will. Another object is to provide means for returning a switch to normal position, if desired, also under the control of the person operating a car or train. A further object is to accomplish these results by mechanical means as distinguished from electrical means likely to get out of order, especially in wet or winter weather. And further objects are to provide such switch operating means which are simple in construction and operation, which are readily installed along a railway, which are unaffected by climatic conditions, which are composed of few parts not likely to get out of repair, and which are comparatively in expensive.

My invention is fully described in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawings form a part, in which like characters refer to like parts in each of the views, and in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a section of a railway provided with a switch and showing my invention therein;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section taken through the switch closing end of my switch structure, ready to throw the switch into closed position;

Fig. 3 is a similar section taken through the structure at the end for opening the switch;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2, with the parts ready to open a switch;

- Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but with the parts in'switch operated positions;

Fig. 6 is a detached view of a switch carrier which I employ;

Fig. 7 is a detached view of a switch carrier operator which I em loy;

Fig. 8 is a detached view of a guide for said switch carrier operator; and

Fig. 9 is a view of an element on a car which is adapted to operate the switch control means.

Referring to the drawings, 10 represents a 7 section of the main line of a railway, 11 a spur thereof, 12 a switch, 13 a car, and 14 a trip lever on the car, the latter being of any desired form and actuated by an engineer or motorman in any desired manner, not shown.

Arranged between the rails of the main line at the end approaching the switch is a trip 15 normally projecting above the ties and carried by a lever 16 pivoted at 17 to a support 18 arranged beneath the surface upon which the track'is arranged and preferably within a housing'19, through the top of which the lever 16 projects.

- Carried by the support 18 is an arch 20 having slots 21 in the vertical end members thereof, said arch being held to said support by means of bolts 22 carrying coil springs 23, and said support 18 is provided with an opening 24 therethrough for the passage of the inner end of the lever 16.

- Carried by posts 25 secured in the support 18 is a plate 26 to which are secured two interiorly beveled guides 27 for a slide 28, of dovetail form in cross-section as shown in Fig. 2, and supported on said guides is a bridge 29 serving as a bearing for one end of a rod 30 the other end of which is secured to an upright 31 on the slide 28, a coil spring 32 being arranged on said rod and interposed between said bridge 29 and said upright 31 and the tendency of which spring is to maintain the bridge and upright separated under normal conditions.

Normally resting upon the support 18 is a plate 33 having recesses in the sides thereof in the positions of the slots 21 whereby the plate 33 may be guided in a vertical movement for a reason to be explained, said plate 33 also being guided by the bolts 22 and the springs 23 on said bolts tend to maintain the plate 33 in lowermost position, as shown in Fig. 4.

The plate 33 carries two uprights 34 inclined on one side each in like manner, said inclined uprights 34 bearing against one end of the slide 28 and against one edge of an opening 35 therein and, in the vertical movement of the plate 33 upwardly, the inclined uprights 34 move the slide 28 laterally, to the right hand side of the sectional views Figs. 4 and 5, into the position shown in the latter figure.

The slide 28 carries two upwardly directed threaded rods 35 and 36 connected with the two rail members of the switch 12 whereby, in the lateral movement of the slide 28, the two rail members of the switch will move simultaneously, said rail members being shown as joined together in Fig. 1 by means of a link 37, and it will be noted that the inner end of the lever 16 bears against the under side of the plate 33 whereby, upon the depression of the outer end of said lever by means of the car apparatus or trip lever 14, the plate 33 will be raised and the inclined uprights thereon will cause the slide 28 to move laterally of the track and thus throw the switch 12 into open position from the closed position shown in Fig. 1.

In order to maintain the lever 16 in this switch operated position, I provide a latch 38 slidable in supports 39 and adapted to engage the lever 16 beneath a shoulder 40 on the inner end thereof by means of a spring 41, and it will be seen that the switch will thereby remain closed after the car has passed the trip 15 until such time as the switch operator may be released and returned to normal position, this enabling me to make the trip 15 of such length only as to be depressed by the trip lever 14 on the car.

Secured to and movable with the spring actuated latch 38 is a horizontally arranged rod 42 which extends to the switch return mechanism shown in Fig. 3 and which consists of a bell-crank lever 43 pivoted at 44 within a housing 45 and in turn pivoted to a trip 46 having its outer end pivoted at 47 to a block 48 or in any other desired manner, the parts being shown in Fig. 3 in a retracted or trip depressed position, wherein the rod 42 is drawn to the left and the latch 38 is withdrawn from engagement with the lever 16.

As a car or train approaches the trip 15 the engineer or other person on the car or train moves the trip lever 14 into trip engaging position and, when the trip 15 is depressed, the lever 16 is rocked on its pivot and the plate 33 is raised into the position shown in Fig. 5 to open the switch as hereinbefore explained, against the action of the springs 23 and 32, the spring 41 thereupon forcing the latch 38 into engagement with the lever 16 below the shoulder 40 thereon, and the parts are locked in switch opened position.

When the car or train hastaken the spur 11 it reaches the trip 46 and, if the trip lever 14 is still in trip operating position, the trip 46 is depressed and withdraws the latch 38 from engagement with the lever 16 and permits the springs 23 and 32 to return the parts within the housin 19 to normal positions, and thus the switc 12 and trip 15, and the main line 10 is again in normal condition.

My invention is very simple though entirely practical and may be installed along a railway in the position of a switch without any change in the track arrangement and without the need for special skill, and it will be seen that the control of the switch is always in the hands of the-engineer or motorman of a train or car, either on a steam railway or on an electric railway.

While I have shown certain preferred structural details, I do not limit myself thereto, as changes may be made thereover which do not depart from the spirit of the invention nor the scope of the appended claims.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a railway switch, of an operator comprising a transversely slidable switch carrier, a vertically movable plate carrying inclined uprights for moving said carrier in one direction, a trip adapted to be depressed by an element on a car consisting of a lever the inner end of which bears against the under side of said plate, and means for returning the parts to normal position when said trip is released. 7

2. The combination with a railway switch, of an operator comprising a transversely slidable switch carrier, a vertically movable plate carrying inclined uprights bearing against said carrier, a trip lever the outer end of which is adapted to be depressed by an element on a car and the inner end of which bears against the under side of said plate, means for locking said trip lever in depressed position to maintain the switch in operated position, and means for return ing said parts to normal positions when said locking means are released.

3. The combination with a railway switch, of a transversely movable carrier in opera- 'tive connection with said switch, a vertically guided plate thereunder having inclined uprights bearing against said carrier to move the latter in the upward movement of said plate, a trip lever the outer end of which is adapted to be actuated by an element on a car and the inner end of which bears against the under side' of said plate, means for locking said lever in switchoperated position, and a spring for returning the parts to normal positions when said locking means are released.

4. The combination with a railway switch, of a transverselyrmovable carrier in operative connection with said switch, a vertically guided plate having inclined uprights bearing against said carrier to move the latter in the upward movement of said plate, a trip lever the outer end of which is adapted to be depressed by an element on a car and the inner end of which bears against said plate, a spring latch for locking said lever in trip depressed position to maintain said switch in operated position, means operable by said car element for retracting said latch, and spring means for returning said parts to normal positions when said latch is retracted.

5. The combination with a railway switch, of a transversely movable carrier in operative connection with said switch, a vertically guided plate having inclined uprights bearing against said carrier to move the latter in the upward movement of said plate, a trip lever the outer end of which is adapted to be depressed by an element on a car and -the inner end of which bears against the under side of said plate, a latch for holding said trip lever in depressed position, a supplemental trip adapted to be engaged by said car element for releasing said latch, and spring means for returning said switch and allied parts to normal positions when said supplemental trip is actuated.

- WILLIAM A. ROBINSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

